Abstract

Nanomechanics and real-time bucklingdeformation of an individual multi-walled carbon nanotube(MWCNT) were investigated through in situnanoindentation within a transmission electron microscope (TEM). These in situ observations reveal a significant shell-to-Euler phase transformation in the buckling response of the nanotube. Objective evidences that the MWCNT possesses time-dependent characteristic were first suggested by combining in situTEMnanoindentation performed strain rate influences on an individual MWCNT with classical molecular dynamics simulations. Structural evolutions and buckling instabilities for thin-wall and thick-wall CNTs are theoretically studied, indicating the role of the tube thickness and interwall van der Waals interactions in governing buckling behavior.

Received 05 March 2013Accepted 11 July 2013Published online 02 August 2013

Acknowledgments:

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided to this research by National Science Council, Taiwan (NSC 101-2120-M-194-002 and 101-2120-M-194-003). The support of AFOSR under AOARD 114105 is also acknowledged.